Thursday, December 30, 2010

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas

It all ends today for the ionic kodak film that changed how we looked at photographs. Like many other things in life we grew up with, like LP's changing over to CD's, there will be some that say the feel and quality of pictures will never be the same. Here is a salute to the billions of out of focus pictures stuck in boxes in basements and attics around the world, capturing that singular moment we cherished for a moment, forgotten forever.

Paul Simon said it best didn't he! This song came out in 1973!

Why back in 1973, I was this many fingers old...

Some more info:

Kodachrome film first hit the photography market in 1936 and on June 22, 2009, Kodak officially retired Kodachrome color transparency film after 74 years. Any photographer who ever took a picture has fond memories of this film and probably a few thousand 35mm Kodachrome slides stashed in a closet somewhere. Paul Simon immortalized Kodachrome film and the Nikon camera with this song in 1973.

Lyrics to Kodachrome:

When I think back on all the crap I've learned in high school
It's a wonder I can think at all
Though my lack of education hasn't hurt me much
I can read the writings on the walls

Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew when I was single
Brought 'em all together for one night
I know they'd never match my sweet imagination
Everything looks worse in black and white